Bucks Begin Life Without Andrew Bogut

The big fella had successful surgery on his right hand, and as the Journal Sentinel details, things will be very tough for Milwaukee going forward: “Nobody was downplaying Andrew Bogut’s season-ending injury after the Milwaukee Bucks’ practice session Monday. His teammates knew full well they had absorbed a major body blow when the 7-foot center crashed to the floor Saturday night against Phoenix, suffering a broken right hand, dislocated right elbow and sprained right wrist in one horrific tumble. But the Bucks players also sounded determined to respond as a group to Bogut’s absence and to continue the streak of strong play that has them poised to clinch an Eastern Conference playoff berth. The Bucks (42-34) have reduced their magic number to two and can clinch their first post-season berth since 2006 if they defeat the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night at the United Center. ‘I’m really disappointed for Andrew,’ Bucks forward Jerry Stackhouse said. ‘I think he’s worked really hard to put this team in position to be in the playoffs. There’s no way we’d be anywhere close to it without him. It’s disappointing he doesn’t get an opportunity to taste it a little bit. He’s labored a few years to try to get the team to this point. Obviously the team will try to pick up where we can. It’s going to be difficult. But we’ve got a lot of guys with a lot of pride. No one guy is going to be able to do it, what ‘Bogues’ does for us defensively and being able to set the tone for us offensively. But I think as a committee we’ll be able to get it done.”‘